Appendix S1 Characteristics of studies included in this synthesis, including In response ratios (lnR) and relative change rate (% yr-1) within each
case.
Study
Ecosystem
Methodology
Sampling
intervals(yr)
Soil depth
(cm)
Bellamy et al. (2005)
Grassland
Repeated soil samplings
20~30
15
Dec
Bellamy et al. (2005)
Cropland
Repeated soil samplings
20~30
15
Dec
Chapman et al. (2013)
Chapman et al. (2013)
Chapman et al. (2013)
David et al. (2009)
David et al. (2009)
David et al. (2009)
Fahey et al. (2005)
Goidtset al. (2007)
Goidtset al. (2007)
Goidtset al. (2009)
Goidtset al. (2009)
Häkkinen et al. (2011)
Hanegraaf et al. (2009)
Hanegraaf et al. (2009)
Hanegraaf et al. (2009)
Hanegraaf et al. (2009)
Hanegraaf et al. (2009)
Hanegraaf et al. (2009)
Hanegraaf et al. (2009)
Hanegraaf et al. (2009)
Cropland
Grassland
Forest
Cropland
Cropland
Cropland
Forest
Grassland
Cropland
Grassland
Cropland
Forest
Cropland
Cropland
Cropland
Cropland
Grassland
Grassland
Grassland
Grassland
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Long-term experiments
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
20~30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
76
76
76
20
20
20
15
30
60
30
60
-0.03
0.02
0.04
-0.13
-0.07
-0.22
0.03
0.13
-0.06
0.04
-0.08
-0.17
0.18
0.28
-0.58
-0.32
-0.4
0.24
0.69
-0.24
0.18
-0.32
5
5
25
25
5
5
5
5
0.02
-0.06
-0.13
-0.01
0.05
0.05
0.04
0.04
0.4
-1.02
-1.65
-0.19
0.74
0.75
0.55
0.54
lnR
Relative change
rate (% yr-1)
Soil carbon
changea
NS
NS
Inc
NS
NS
Dec
NS
Inc
Dec
Inc
Dec
Inc
NS
Dec
Dec
NS
Inc
Inc
Inc
Inc
Heikkinen et al. (2013)
Hopkins et al. (2009)
Hopkins et al. (2009)
Huang et al. (2006)
Johnson et al. (2007)
Johnson et al. (2007)
Johnson et al. (2007)
Johnson et al. (2007)
Johnson et al. (2007)
Johnson et al. (2007)
Johnson et al. (2007)
Johnson et al. (2007)
Kiser et al. (2009)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Cropland
Grassland
Grassland
Cropland
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Grassland
Grassland
Cropland
Cropland
Forest
Grassland
Grassland
Cropland
Cropland
Forest
Grassland
Grassland
Cropland
Repeated soil samplings
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Regional comparisons
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
>=30
>=30
>=30
20~30
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
20~30
20~30
20~30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
15
23
23
20
60
60
60
15
15
15
15
15
10
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
-0.05
0.08
-0.01
0.11
-0.33
0.23
-0.06
1.44
0.15
-0.05
0.04
-0.01
0.14
0.003
0.08
0.05
0.01
-0.01
0.15
0.12
0.08
0.06
0.02
0.1
0.06
0.04
-0.08
4.09
-0.95
0.86
-0.09
1.73
0.03
0.67
0.32
0.07
-0.05
1.05
1.03
0.53
0.48
0.15
0.69
0.53
0.22
-0.54
Dec
NS
NS
Inc
Dec
Inc
NS
Inc
Dec
NS
NS
Inc
NS
Inc
Inc
Inc
Dec
Inc
Inc
Inc
Inc
Inc
Inc
Inc
Inc
Dec
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Letterns et al. (2005)
Li et al. (2013)
Meersmans et al. (2009)
Meersmans et al. (2009)
Mestdagh et al. (2009)
Miao et al. (2014)
Minasny et al. (2012)
Minasny et al. (2012)
Ortiz et al. (2013)
Pan et al. (2010)
Porebska et al. (2013)
Porebska et al. (2013)
Porebska et al. (2013)
Porebska et al. (2013)
Porebska et al. (2013)
Porebska et al. (2013)
Prietzelet al. (2006)
Prietzelet al. (2006)
Prietzelet al. (2006)
Prietzelet al. (2006)
Prietzelet al. (2006)
Reijneveld et al. (2009)
Reijneveld et al. (2009)
Cropland
Forest
Grassland
Cropland
Cropland
Cropland
Grassland
Grassland
Cropland
Cropland
Cropland
Forest
Cropland
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Cropland
Grassland
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
>=30
>=30
<20
<20
20~30
>=30
>=30
<20
20~30
20~30
>=30
<20
<20
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
>=30
20~30
<20
20~30
>=30
<20
20~30
<20
30
30
100
100
20
30
30
100
20
15
15
65
20
100
100
100
100
100
100
30
30
30
30
30
25
5
-0.07
0.18
-0.03
-0.02
0.05
-0.06
-0.001
-0.04
0.74
0.24
0.14
0.007
0.04
-0.18
-0.003
-0.14
-0.03
-0.19
0.02
0.02
0.01
0.04
0.07
0.02
0.004
0.01
-0.36
1.25
-0.65
-0.45
0.61
-0.28
-0.01
-0.95
0.74
3.77
1.02
0.26
0.61
-1.11
-0.02
-0.92
-0.2
-1.19
0.13
0.21
0.3
0.49
0.56
0.51
0.05
0.23
Dec
Inc
Dec
Dec
Inc
Dec
NS
Dec
Inc
Inc
Inc
Inc
Inc
Dec
NS
Dec
NS
Dec
Inc
NS
NS
Inc
Inc
NS
NS
NS
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Reynolds et al. (2013)
Sanford et al. (2012)
Schrumpf et al. (2014)
Senthilkumaret al. (2009)
Senthilkumaret al. (2009)
Stevens et al. (2008)
Tamminen et al. (2005)
Tamminen et al. (2005)
Xie et al. (2007)
Xie et al. (2007)
Xie et al. (2007)
Cropland
Cropland
Cropland
Grassland
Grassland
Grassland
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Forest
Cropland
Forest
Cropland
Grassland
Forest
Forest
Forest
Cropland
Forest
Grassland
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Repeated soil samplings
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Long-term experiments
Repeated soil samplings
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
<20
20~30
20~30
20~30
20~30
<20
20~30
20~30
<20
20~30
20~30
<20
20~30
<20
20~30
20~30
>=30
<20
20~30
20~30
20~30
20~30
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
20
15
15
30
10
30
15.2
17.3
21.1
-0.04
-0.04
-0.08
0.02
0.001
-0.02
0.14
0.11
-0.03
0.03
-0.03
-0.06
-0.02
-1.03
-0.41
-0.57
0.25
0.01
-0.5
1.87
1.01
-0.65
0.38
-0.23
-1.46
-0.22
-0.08
-0.18
-0.04
0.03
0.07
-0.82
-1.67
-0.21
0.51
0.83
Yan et al. (2011)
Yang et al. (2009)
Yang et al. (2010)
Yang et al. (2014)
Cropland
Grassland
Grassland
Forest
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
Regional comparisons
20~30
20~30
20~30
20~30
20
30
30
10
0.02
-0.001
0.006
0.06
0.22
-0.01
0.07
0.73
Dec
NS
Dec
NS
NS
NS
Inc
Inc
NS
Inc
NS
NS
NS
Inc
Dec
Dec
Dec
NS
Inc
Inc
Inc
Dec
Inc
NS
NS
Inc
Yu et al. (2009)
Zhou et al. (2006)
aInc,
Cropland
Forest
Regional comparisons
Long-term experiments
increased; Dec, decreased; NS, nonsignificant change
20~30
20~30
20
20
0.02
0.2
0.27
2.49
Inc
Inc
Appendix S2.The literature list from which soil organic carbon concentration and
organic carbon density data during the two sampling periods were extracted.
Bellamy PH, Loveland PJ, Bradley RI, Lark RM, Kirk GJ (2005) Carbon losses from
all soils across England and Wales 1978-2003. Nature, 437, 245-248.
Chapman SJ, Bell JS, Campbell CD et al. (2013) Comparison of soil carbon stocks in
Scottish soils between 1978 and 2009. European Journal of Soil Science, 64,
455-465.
David MB, Mcisaac GF, Darmody RG, Omonode RA (2009) Long-term changes in
Mollisol organic carbon and nitrogen. J Environ Qual, 38, 200-211.
Goidts E, Van Wesemael B (2007) Regional assessment of soil organic carbon
changes under agriculture in southern Belgium (1955–2005). Geoderma, 141,
341-354.
Goidts E, Wesemael BaSV, Van Oost K (2009) Driving forces of soil organic carbon
evolution at the landscape and regional scale using data from a stratified soil
monitoring. Global Change Biology, 15, 2981-3000.
Häkkinen M, Heikkinen J, Mäkipää R (2011) Soil carbon stock increases in the
organic layer of boreal middle-aged stands. Biogeosciences, 8, 1279-1289.
Hanegraaf MC, Hoffland E, Kuikman PJ, Brussaard L (2009) Trends in soil organic
matter contents in Dutch grasslands and maize fields on sandy soils. European
Journal of Soil Science, 60, 213-222.
Heikkinen J, Ketoja E, Nuutinen V, Regina K (2013) Declining trend of carbon in
Finnish cropland soils in 1974-2009. Glob Chang Biol, 19, 1456-1469.
Hopkins DW, Waite IS, Mcnicol JW, Poulton PR, Macdonald AJ, O'donnell AG (2009)
Soil organic carbon contents in long-term experimental grassland plots in the
UK (Palace Leas and Park Grass) have not changed consistently in recent
decades. Global Change Biology, 15, 1739-1754.
Huang Y, Sun W (2006) Changes in topsoil organic carbon of croplands in mainland
China over the last two decades. Chinese Science Bulletin, 51, 1785-1803.
Johnson DW, Todd DE, Trettin CF, Sedinger JS (2007) Soil carbon and nitrogen
changes in forests of Walker Branch Watershed, 1972 to 2004. Soil Science
Society of America Journal, 71, 1639-1646.
Kiser LC, Kelly JM, Mays PA (2009) Changes in forest soil carbon and nitrogen after
a thirty-year interval. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 73, 647-653.
Lettens S, Van Orshoven J, Van Wesemael B, De Vos B, Muys B (2005a) Stocks and
fluxes of soil organic carbon for landscape units in Belgium derived from
heterogeneous data sets for 1990 and 2000. Geoderma, 127, 11-23.
Lettens S, Van Shoven J, Van Wesemael B, Muys B, Perrin D (2005b) Soil organic
carbon changes in landscape units of Belgium between 1960 and 2000 with
reference to 1990. Global Change Biology, 11, 2128-2140.
Li ZT, Li XG, Li M, Yang JY, Turner NC, Wang XY, Li FM (2013) County-scale
changes in soil organic carbon of croplands in southeastern Gansu province of
china from the 1980s to the mid-2000s. Soil Science Society of America
Journal, 77, 2111-2121.
Meersmans J, Van Wesemael B, De Ridder F, Fallas Dotti M, De Baets S, Van Molle
M (2009) Changes in organic carbon distribution with depth in agricultural
soils in northern Belgium, 1960-2006. Global Change Biology, 15, 2739-2750.
Mestdagh I, Sleutel S, Lootens P et al. (2009) Soil organic carbon-stock changes in
Flemish grassland soils from 1990 to 2000. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil
Science, 172, 24-31.
Miao Z-H, Wang Z-M, Song K-S, Zhang C-H, Ren C-Y (2013) Spatial and temporal
variability of soil organic carbon in the corn belt of northeastern China,
1980s–2005: a case study in four counties. Communications in Soil Science
and Plant Analysis, 45, 163-176.
Minasny B, Mcbratney AB, Hong SY et al. (2012) Continuous rice cropping has been
sequestering carbon in soils in Java and South Korea for the past 30 years.
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 26, doi:10.1029/2012GB004406.
Ortiz CA, Liski J, Gärdenäs AI et al. (2013) Soil organic carbon stock changes in
Swedish forest soils—a comparison of uncertainties and their sources through
a national inventory and two simulation models. Ecological Modelling, 251,
221-231.
Pan G, Xu X, Smith P, Pan W, Lal R (2010) An increase in topsoil SOC stock of
China's croplands between 1985 and 2006 revealed by soil monitoring.
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 136, 133-138.
Porębska G, Ostrowska A (2013) Assessment of C stock in forest soils in Poland over
the last 30 years. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, 22, 503-510.
Prietzel J, Stetter U, Klemmt H-J, Rehfuess KE (2006) Recent carbon and nitrogen
accumulation and acidification in soils of two Scots pine ecosystems in
southern Germany. Plant and Soil, 289, 153-170.
Reijneveld A, Van Wensem J, Oenema O (2009) Soil organic carbon contents of
agricultural land in the Netherlands between 1984 and 2004. Geoderma, 152,
231-238.
Reynolds B, Chamberlain PM, Poskitt J et al. (2013) Countryside survey: national
“soil change” 1978–2007 for topsoils in Great Britain—acidity, carbon, and
total nitrogen status. Vadose Zone Journal, 12, doi:10.2136/vzj2012.0114.
Sanford GR, Posner JL, Jackson RD, Kucharik CJ, Hedtcke JL, Lin T-L (2012) Soil
carbon lost from Mollisols of the north central U.S.A. with 20 years of
agricultural best management practices. Agriculture, Ecosystems &
Environment, 162, 68-76.
Schrumpf M, Kaiser K, Schulze ED (2014) Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen
gains in an old growth deciduous forest in Germany. PLoS One, 9, e89364.
Senthilkumar S, Basso B, Kravchenko AN, Robertson GP (2009) Contemporary
evidence of soil carbon loss in the U.S. corn belt. Soil Science Society of
America Journal, 73, 2078-2086.
Stevens A, Van Wesemael B (2008) Soil organic carbon dynamics at the regional scale
as influenced by land use history: A case study in forest soils from southern
Belgium. Soil Use and Management, 24, 69-79.
Tamminen P, Derome J (2005) Temporal trends in chemical parameters of upland
forest soils in southern Finland. Silva Fennica, 39, 313-330.
Xie Z, Zhu J, Liu G et al. (2007) Soil organic carbon stocks in China and changes
from 1980s to 2000s. Global Change Biology, 13, 1989-2007.
Yang Y, Fang J, Ma W, Smith P, Mohammat A, Wang S, Wang WEI (2010) Soil
carbon stock and its changes in northern China's grasslands from 1980s to
2000s. Global Change Biology, 16, 3036-3047.
Yang Y, Fang J, Smith P et al. (2009) Changes in topsoil carbon stock in the Tibetan
grasslands between the 1980s and 2004. Global Change Biology, 15,
2723-2729.
Yang Y, Li P, Ding J, Zhao X, Ma W, Ji C, Fang J (2014) Increased topsoil carbon
stock across China's forests. Global Change Biology, 20, 2687-2696.
Yu Y, Guo Z, Wu H, Kahmann JA, Oldfield F (2009) Spatial changes in soil organic
carbon density and storage of cultivated soils in China from 1980 to 2000.
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 23, doi:10.1029/2008GB003428.
Zhou G, Liu S, Li Z et al. (2006) Old-growth forests can accumulate carbon in soils.
Science, 314, 1417.